Finnish company Steady Energy has signed an agreement to develop nuclear-powered heating for the town of Kerava, about 10km north of Helsinki.
The deal, with utility Keravan Energia, will use a small modular reactors (SMR) to supply hot water for a district heating system.
Steady Energy will now embark on studies to establish the business and technical cases for SMR technology. Jussi Lehto, the chief executive of Keravan Energia, suggested that these were likely to be successful.
He said: “Think of district heating as a large system of hot water pipes, where heat flows to radiators from a giant boiler, where the heat source now is biomass and peat.
“While green electricity is a good backup, we need more stable solutions to counter electricity price volatility. A dedicated nuclear heat source, like Steady Energy’s reactor, is a very viable option.”
The reactor that would be used to heat Kerava would be the LDR-50, a 50MW design that has yet to be licensed, but which will probably retail for about €100m.
It is a light-water design that is easier to operate than a conventional reactor, since it produces hot water rather than the superheated steam required to spin a turbine. The aim would be to heat water to 150 degrees.
Tommi Nyman, the chief executive of Steady Energy, said heating water accounted for 10% of global emissions. “Our reactor focuses solely on this task, making it possibly the world’s simplest commercial nuclear reactor. This design ensures that SMR-produced heat is cost-competitive compared to other alternatives,” he commented.
If the scheme does progress, Kerava will be the third Finnish municipality to opt for nuclear heating, following earlier initiatives in Kuopio and Helsinki.
Should the project proceed to investment, construction of the SMR could begin as early as 2029, with the first nuclear-powered showers taken in 2032.
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